Use headers and footers in worksheet printouts

You can add headers or footers at the top or bottom of a printed worksheet. For example, you might create a footer that has page numbers, the date and time, and the name of your file.

Headers and footers are not displayed on the worksheet in Normal view — they are displayed only in Page Layout view and on the printed pages. You can insert headers or footers in Page Layout view where you can see them, or you can use the Page Setup dialog box if you want to insert headers or footers for more than one worksheet at the same time. For other sheet types, such as chart sheets, you can insert headers and footers only by using the Page Setup dialog box.

Add or change the header or footer text in Page Layout view

Click the worksheet to which you want to add headers or footers, or that contains headers or footers that you want to change.

On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Header & Footer.

Note Excel displays the worksheet in Page Layout view. You can also click Page Layout View
on the status bar to display this view.

Do one of the following:

To add a header or footer, click the left, center, or right header or footer text box at the top or the bottom of the worksheet page (under Header or above Footer).

To change a header or footer, click the header or footer text box at the top or the bottom of the worksheet page respectively, and then select the text that you want to change.

Type the new header or footer text.

Notes:

To start a new line in a header or footer text box, press ENTER.

To delete a portion of a header or footer, select the portion that you want to delete in the header or footer text box, and then press DELETE or BACKSPACE. You can also click the text, and then press BACKSPACE to delete the preceding characters.

To include a single ampersand (&) in the text of a header or footer, use two ampersands. For example, to include "Subcontractors & Services" in a header, type Subcontractors && Services.

To close the headers or footers, click anywhere in the worksheet. To close the headers or footers without keeping the changes that you made, press ESC.

Add or change the header or footer text in the Page Setup dialog box

Click the worksheet or worksheets, chart sheet, or embedded chart to which you want to add headers or footers, or that contains headers or footers that you want to change.

How to select multiple worksheets

To select

Do this

A single sheet

Click the sheet tab.

If you don't see the tab that you want, click the tab scrolling buttons to display the tab, and then click the tab.

Two or more adjacent sheets

Click the tab for the first sheet. Then hold down SHIFT while you click the tab for the last sheet that you want to select.

Two or more nonadjacent sheets

Click the tab for the first sheet. Then hold down CTRL while you click the tabs of the other sheets that you want to select.

All sheets in a workbook

Right-click a sheet tab, and then click Select All Sheets on the shortcut menu.

Tip When multiple worksheets are selected, [Group] appears in the title bar at the top of the worksheet. To cancel a selection of multiple worksheets in a workbook, click any unselected worksheet. If no unselected sheet is visible, right-click the tab of a selected sheet, and then click Ungroup Sheets on the shortcut menu.

On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click the Dialog Box Launcher
next to Page Setup.

Excel displays the Page Setup dialog box.

If you select a chart sheet or embedded chart, clicking Header & Footer in the Text group on the Insert tab also displays the Page Setup dialog box.

On the Header/Footer tab, click Custom Header or Custom Footer.

Click in the Left section, Center section, or Right section box, and then click the buttons to insert the header or footer information that you want in that section.

To add or change the header or footer text, type additional text or edit the existing text in the Left section, Center section, or Right section box.

To start a new line in a section box, press ENTER.

To delete a portion of a header or footer, select the portion that you want to delete in the section box, and then press DELETE or BACKSPACE. You can also click in the text, and then press BACKSPACE to delete the preceding characters.

To include a single ampersand (&) in the text of a header or footer, use two ampersands. For example, to include "Subcontractors & Services" in a header, type Subcontractors && Services.

To base a custom header or footer on an existing header or footer, click the header or footer in the Header or Footer box.

Add a predefined header or footer

For worksheets, you can work with headers and footers in Page Layout view. For other sheet types such as chart sheets, or for embedded charts, you can work with the headers and footers in the Page Setup dialog box.

Add a predefined header or footer to a worksheet in Page Layout view

Click the worksheet to which you want to add a predefined header or footer.

On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Header & Footer.

Note Excel displays the worksheet in Page Layout view. You can also click Page Layout View
on the status bar to display this view.

Click the left, center, or right header or footer text box at the top or the bottom of the worksheet page.

Clicking any text box selects the header or footer and displays the Header and Footer Tools, adding the Design tab.

On the Design tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer, and then click the predefined header or footer that you want.

Add a predefined header or footer to a chart

Click the chart sheet or embedded chart to which you want to add a predefined header or footer.

On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Header & Footer.

Note Excel displays the Page Setup dialog box.

Click the predefined header or footer that you want to use in the Header or Footer box.

Insert specific elements in a header or footer

For worksheets, you can work with headers and footers in Page Layout view. For other sheet types such as chart sheets, or for embedded charts, you can work with headers and footers in the Page Setup dialog box.

Insert specific header and footer elements for a worksheet

Click the worksheet to which you want to add specific header or footer elements.

On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Header & Footer.

Note Excel displays the worksheet in Page Layout view. You can also click Page Layout View
on the status bar to display this view.

Click the left, center, or right header or footer text box at the top or the bottom of the worksheet page.

Clicking any text box selects the header or footer and displays the Header and Footer Tools, adding the Design tab.

On the Design tab, in the Header & Footer Elements group, click the element that you want.

Insert specific header and footer elements for a chart

Click the chart sheet or embedded chart to which you want to add a predefined header or footer.

On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Header & Footer.

Note Excel displays the Page Setup dialog box.

Click Custom Header or Custom Footer.

Use the buttons in the Header or Footer dialog box to insert specific header and footer elements.

When you rest the mouse pointer on a button, a ScreenTip displays the name of the element that the button inserts.

Specify header and footer options

For worksheets, you can work with headers and footers in Page Layout view. For other sheet types such as chart sheets, or for embedded charts, you can work with headers and footers in the Page Setup dialog box.

Choose the header and footer options for a worksheet

Click the worksheet for which you want to choose header and footer options.

On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Header & Footer.

Note Excel displays the worksheet in Page Layout view. You can also click Page Layout View
on the status bar to display this view.

Click the left, center, or right header or footer text box at the top or the bottom of the worksheet page.

Clicking any text box selects the header or footer and displays the Header and Footer Tools, adding the Design tab.

On the Design tab, in the Options group, select one or more of the following:

To specify that the headers and footers on odd-numbered pages should be different from those on even-numbered pages, select the Different Odd & Even Pages check box.

To remove headers and footers from the first printed page, select the Different First Page check box.

To specify whether the headers and footers should use the same font size and scaling as the worksheet, select the Scale with Document check box.

Tip: To make the font size and scaling of the headers or footers independent of the worksheet scaling, which helps to create a consistent display across multiple pages, clear this check box.

To make sure that the header or footer margin is aligned with the left and right margins of the worksheet, select the Align with Page Margins check box.

Tip: To set the left and right margins of the headers and footers to a specific value that is independent of the left and right margins of the worksheet, clear this check box.

Choose the header and footer options for a chart

Click the chart sheet or embedded chart to which you want to add a predefined header or footer.

On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Header & Footer.

Note Excel displays the Page Setup dialog box.

Select one or more of the following:

To specify that the headers and footers on odd-numbered pages should be different from those on even-numbered pages, select the Different odd & even pages check box.

To remove headers and footers from the first printed page, select the Different first page check box.

To specify whether the headers and footers should use the same font size and scaling as the worksheet, select the Scale with document check box.

To make the font size and scaling of the headers or footers independent of the worksheet scaling, which helps to create a consistent display across multiple pages, clear the Scale with Document check box.

To make sure that the header or footer margin is aligned with the left and right margins of the worksheet, select the Align with page margins check box.

To set the left and right margins of the headers and footers to a specific value that is independent of the left and right margins of the worksheet, clear this check box.

Close headers and footers

To close the header and footer, you must switch from Page Layout view to Normal view.

On the View tab, in the Workbook Views group, click Normal.

You can also click Normal
on the status bar.

Remove the header or footer text from a worksheet

On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Header & Footer.

Note Excel displays the worksheet in Page Layout view. You can also click Page Layout View
on the status bar to display this view.

Click the left, center, or right header or footer text box at the top or the bottom of the worksheet page.

Clicking any text box selects the header or footer and displays the Header and Footer Tools, adding the Design tab.

Press DELETE or BACKSPACE.

To return to Normal view, click Normal
on the status bar.

Note If you want to delete headers and footers for several worksheets at once, select the worksheets according to the instructions in Add or change the header or footer text in the Page Setup dialog box, and then open the Page Setup dialog box. To delete all headers and footers at once, on the Header/Footer tab, select (none) in the Header or Footer box.